How to Bow

“ ‘And now I have brought the first of the fruit of the land that You, Hashem gave me.’ Then you should place them before Hashem… and you should bow down before Hashem, your G-d.” (Devarim 26:10)

The Midrash Tanchuma says that Moshe prophetically saw that the Beis Hamikdash would be destroyed, and so we’d no longer be able to perform the mitzvah of bringing bikkurim there. As a partial substitute for this mitzvah, Moshe decreed that Bnei Yisrael should instead pray three times daily.

What’s the connection between bikkurim and prayer? (Rabbi Oizer Alport Parsha Potpourri)

Right after lichtbentshen, I knocked on Sheva’s door. I knew she was hosting Shabbbos sheva brachos for her daughter, but I still thought she’d appreciate a quick mazel tov. Besides, I came bearing gifts, I thought, adjusting the platter of cake I hadn’t had time to drop off before Shabbos.

The door was flung open by Sheva’s grandson. Sure enough, the house was packed. The new kallah was in the living room regaling her sisters with sheitel woes, so I went into the kitchen in search of Sheva.

In his sefer Minchas Asher, Rav Asher Weiss notes that in Shemoneh Esreh, there are two blessings in which we’re required to bow: the first blessing of Magen Avraham and the penultimate blessing, Modim. These two times of prostration represent two types of bowing. In the first blessing, we bow in submission to Hashem. In Modim, we bow in thanksgiving for all the good Hashem continuously does for us.

“Mazel Tov!” I gave Sheva a warm hug and handed her the cake platter. As she hugged me back, I detected a touch of tension, certainly par for the course considering the crowd. “Anything I can help with?”

“Everything’s fine. Wonderful. Great.” Then grabbing my hand, she pulled me into the mudroom off the kitchen. “Sorry, just need to get this out of my system and you came at just the right moment. Everything’s okay, but I just had a pretty wild moment.”